


Guardian [Backstory]

by jungeclipse



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Backstory, F/F, Guardian - Freeform, angstkindof, gayliljiwoo, giveloonasnsfreedom, guardianbackstory, idunnowhattoputhere, loonayyxy, smoljiwoo, tinyyxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26334823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jungeclipse/pseuds/jungeclipse
Summary: The backstory of Guardian, an au by @loonaubits on Twitter.
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves & Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu
Kudos: 7





	Guardian [Backstory]

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I sure hope you, the reader is having an amazing day. It's finally here! The backstory for Guardian is finally here. Sit down (lay down, or stand up, whichever you prefer), relax, and read the backstory. 
> 
> If you haven't read Guardian by @loonaubits on Twitter, here is the link to the fic!  
> https://twitter.com/loonaubits/status/1286177664970027009?s=20
> 
> Once again, I hope all of you are having a fantastic day!

It was a fine Friday morning and school’s out. It was the last Friday of summer vacation. A young little girl was awakened by the sound of birds chirping and the bright morning sun that shined through the windows as her mother opened the curtains. She opened her eyes slowly and winced at the bright line.

“Please let me rest.” The girl pleaded to her mother with a hint of tiredness.

“Hmm… Kim Jiwoo. You don’t want to keep Jungeun waiting at the park, right? I’m sure she’s waiting for you.” 

Jiwoo gasped and immediately got out of bed. “Nooo Jungeun wait for me!” She exclaimed and ran downstairs to the dining room. She accidentally bumped into her sister, Jisoo. “Ah! I’m so sorry Jisoo!” She apologized.

“Be careful next time.” Jisoo coldly replied and sat down on her chair.

Jiwoo scratched the back of her head and wondered why she was being cold but she shrugged that thought. Her best friend was probably waiting for her at the park already. She sat down on her chair and started to eat her food that was on her plate.

“Jiwoo, Do you want to move with me to Busan tonight?” Her mother questioned and she looked up at her, confused.

“Move? Busan? Huh?” 

Jisoo stopped eating and placed her utensils down. “Come on, why don’t you bring me instead, mom?” She asked.

“You’ll stay here with your dad and brother.” 

“What- You never bring me anywhere.” Jisoo tried to argue but Mrs. Kim only ignored her.

“Come on Jiwoo! It will be fun to meet new friends.” Mrs. Kim told her youngest daughter, whose face was surely not lighting up.

“Do I… Have to leave Jungeun?” 

“We’ll only be staying in Busan for three years.”

“But.. What will we do there?”

“You’ll study there.”

Jiwoo thought about it for a moment and nodded her head. “I’ll go with you!”

= = = 

Jiwoo arrived at the playground and spotted Jungeun standing in front of the swings.. She ran towards her and wrapped her arms around her. “Jungeun!” She shouted.

“Ah! Jiwoo, hello!” Jungeun greeted and hugged Jiwoo back. 

“How are you?!” Jiwoo asked, practically shouting.

“I’m fine! How are you?!” 

“I’m also fine!”

“Why are we shouting?!” 

“I don’t know! My throat kind of hurts though!”

Jungeun let go of Jiwoo and so did the latter. They started to do their “awesome” secret handshake. Uh, it’s awesome for them.

“Mom said we’ll move to Busan tonight.” 

“Busan? Hey Wooming, you’re leaving me?!”

“It’s only for three years! I promise to go back soon!” 

“You better go back or else… Huh, what am I gonna do? Oh! I’ll go steal your toys!”

“I’ll bring my toys with me though..”

“Oh. Uh, this is awkward.” Jungeun laughed.

“We’ll text on our phones, right?” Jiwoo asked.

“Of course. Just don’t change your number!” Jungeun answered.

Jiwoo sat down on one of the swings. “Push me!”

“Alright your majesty.” Jungeun giggled and walked behind Jiwoo and started to push her. The swing started to swing back and forth, they were laughing out loud as if they were in their own world. 

Jungeun and Jiwoo’s Magical World…? 

No seriously. Jiwoo was the one that named their humble world and Jungeun just agreed. They were like 11-12 years old, let them be. 

= = =

After ten minutes, they were tired of playing in the park. They’ve tried the swings, seesaws, slides, well let’s just say every single thing from the park. 

“Hey Jungeun? Should we get ice cream? I need something to cool me down.” Jiwoo, who was sitting down on the bench, suggested and looked at the older girl who was standing up, hands on her hips. 

“I’ll race you to the ice cream parlor!” Jungeun shouted and started running towards the ice cream parlor.

“Hey! No fair. You were already standing up!” Jiwoo complained and ran after her.

“Well, I think you have an advantage because you got to rest. My legs are killing me!” 

“What the hell am I supposed to do? Carry you? Never!” 

“I wasn’t suggesting anything though…?” 

They finally reached the ice cream parlor and stopped in front of the store, panting to catch their breaths. They were exhausted.

“Heh. Slowpoke.” Jungeun teased and opened the door of the ice cream parlor. She waited for Jiwoo to go inside first before she went in. 

Jiwoo rolled her eyes and went inside the ice cream parlor. “Rock paper scissors. Who will go order.”

“What a child. I’ll go order. Mint chocolate, right?” 

Jiwoo gasped and clapped her hands. “Yay~ You know me, Kim Jiwoo so much! Are you.. My soulmate?” She raised an eyebrow and started poking Jungeun’s cheeks. 

“What soulmate? Soulmates don’t exist.” Jungeun scoffed and dodged Jiwoo’s fingers.

“You owe me ice cream if you believe soulmates exist when I come back.” 

“Bet. I don’t believe in those anyways.”

= = = 

Jiwoo was waiting for Jungeun to go back with their ice cream while looking out the window. She was busy looking at a store that sells cameras and didn’t notice Jungeun was back with their ice cream until she saw a hand waving in front of her face.

“You know, you always look at that store every time we’re here.”

Jiwoo looked at Jungeun. “Huh? I want to take pictures to treasure them in the future.”

“I see… I bought you a polaroid camera.” Jungeun smiled and took out something out of her backpack, revealing a polaroid camera box. She placed it on the table.

Jiwoo gasped and looked at Jungeun as if she was about to cry.

“Gosh don’t cry. Just eat your ice cream and take the camera.”

“You only bought one ice cream? How about you?”   
  
“I told my mom that if she buys me a polaroid camera I won’t eat ice cream for two months.”

“Your mom won’t know that you ate ice cream anyways, why not eat?” 

Jungeun looked at Jiwoo and sighed. “Jiwoo… My mom owns this ice cream parlor.”

“Ah! I forgot.”

“It’s fine. Go eat your ice cream.” 

Jiwoo nodded her head and started to eat her mint chocolate ice cream that was in a bowl. She looked at Jungeun, who she assumed was looking at something.. Or maybe someone? She followed her gaze and spotted a black haired girl with bangs and somewhat had a long neck who was playing with gundams. “Go talk to her.” 

Jungeun was caught off-guard and looked away. Her cheeks were starting to turn red as she was just caught looking at someone.. The same gender? Jungeun was sure that she wasn’t attracted to women romantically. Or was she? “What?”

“You like her.”   
  
“What? No! A person shouldn’t like someone the same gender.” 

“Come on Jungeun. Who knows when the two of you will see each other again. I’m pretty sure she’s not from here.” 

Jungeun took a deep breath and looked at the girl again. This time, the girl was looking back at her and they locked eyes with each other. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away. “Jiwoo. She looked at me! We locked eyes!”

Jiwoo remained silent and the girl with bangs approached their table.

“Hey, can you tell your friend that staring is bad? She could’ve just talked to me.” 

“See Jungeun. I told you to talk to her now you have to talk to her because I actually have to go home already.. Text me what happened! Bye!” Jiwoo took the polaroid camera that Jungeun had given to her and ran out of the ice cream parlor. It’s not that she wanted to leave Jungeun alone with… girl with bangs or whatever her name is. It’s because she should be home by then. 

= = =

Jiwoo’s house wasn’t that far from the ice cream parlor. It was just a few minutes walk so she arrived pretty quick. She entered the house and was welcomed by...no one. How exciting. She expected her mother to greet her but it looks like no one will welcome her. She walked up the stairs to go to her room but as she was about to go to her room, she heard yelling from her parents’ bedroom. 

“You think I can take care of the two annoying brats? How come you get to decide who will go with you?!” 

“Jeez. Why not call the previous maid since you had an affair with her?”

“How the fuck did you find out?”

“Oh so it’s true?”

“Haha nope. I did not just hear that.” Jiwoo entered her room and locked the door. She looked around her room and saw all of her belongings were packed already. She looked at her phone and saw a text from Jungeun, making her face light up. 

y u leave me

How was it?

AWFUL

I ran away

HELLO I CAN’T TALK TO PRETTY UNNIES

lol u coward

tnx 4 the camera

ily jungie<3

yeah yeah whatever

stay safe ok

NOOO HOW DID SHE FIND ME

destiny

wait wru hiding

idk behind a tree

ok go talk to her

nope i am running away

you do you,, someone’s knocking on my door hold on

Jiwoo looked at the door and waited for someone to speak before she decided whether to let that person in or not. 

“Jiwoo? It’s your mom.”

“Are we leaving now?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll be downstairs in a moment.”

= = = 

Jiwoo woke up in the morning in a room she wasn’t familiar with. She wondered where she was until her mom walked in her room, dressed casually, and greeted her a good morning.

“We arrived in Busan. You didn’t want to wake up so I carried you to our new home.” Mrs. Kim explained to her daughter who just nodded her head. “You’ll be fine home alone, right? I have to go to the hospital for work.” 

“I think so. I want to go to a bookstore or a library though.” 

“There’s a bookstore one block away.”

“Alright. I’ll just go walk. I think you should go now, you’re running late now mom.”

“Ah right, see you in the evening.” 

= = =

Jiwoo went outside of the house right after she finished eating her breakfast, taking a shower, and getting dressed. She washed the dishes and made sure everything was locked in the house to avoid getting robbed. Her mom had given her a spare key so all she needed was to be careful and make sure she won’t lose it. She brought the polaroid camera that Jungeun had given her. 

Oh right, Jungeun. Jiwoo forgot to text her. She decided to text her once she arrived at the bookstore. She didn’t want to suddenly trip down because she wasn’t looking but then she was curious what Jungeun had been sending her because she knows Jungeun would spam her with a lot of text messages.

She arrived in front of the bookstore pretty quick, she was glad that she didn’t get lost nor kidnapped. She was unfamiliar with the town after all. She went inside the bookstore and looked for a book. She found the bookstore amazing since it was like a library but you can also buy books. 

Jiwoo sat down when she found the perfect book to read, but before she actually read it, she wanted to text Jungeun first. The older girl had sent her a total of 61 messages, was she that bored? 

61 messages, r u bored

omg ure aliveeee

no, this is Kim Jiwoo’s spirit texting

haha, very funny

how’s busan

idk, i just woke up

but there’s a bookstore that’s kind of a library

very amazing

cool! 

don’t forget to take pics 

lol what do u want me to take pics of

books?

you can take pics later.. not saying now

bye i’m helping mom with the ice cream parlor

Jiwoo placed her phone on her sling bag and looked around the bookstore. She spotted a pretty girl that looks a few years older than her reading two tables away from her. She quietly took a picture of her using the polaroid camera, printed the picture immediately and waited for the film to come out. While she was waiting, she opened the book and covered half of her face, definitely not staring at the girl that was reading.

“Should I talk to her?” She asked herself but she saw the girl about to pay for the book that she was reading. She looked at the book title and read what it was, “My Dear Goddess”

“Huh? What a coincidence. I also picked that book.” Jiwoo giggled and looked at the book cover. “Wait, what was I thinking about again?” She searched for the girl but she couldn’t find her anywhere.

“See Jiwoo, you should’ve talked to her but you didn’t. What a coward. Who knows when you’ll meet her again.” Jiwoo huffed and looked at the film that had the girl in it. “I will cherish you forever.” She grinned and carefully placed the photo inside her sling bag, making sure it won’t get damaged or anything. She walked towards the cashier, holding her camera and the book. She paid for the book and went outside. 

The 11 year old girl had no idea where to actually go and wanted to explore the area a bit but she didn’t want to get kidnapped.She took a few steps away from the bookstore and went to where her feet would drag her. She stopped at a playground that had a school across it. There were children playing and she approached a group of kids nervously.

“Hi! My name is Jiwoo, I just moved here last night.” Jiwoo introduced herself with a hint of nervousness while the kids just laughed.

“Who’s this? A new kid to toy around with?” A girl spoke up and Jiwoo was confused.

“Okay Suji, stop for now.” Another girl spoke. “I’m Sohee and that girl was Suji.”

A boy forcefully took the camera out of Jiwoo’s hands and inspected it. He smirked and said, “Oh? What’s this? A Polaroid Z340? It would be a shame if I broke it.” 

“Give it back! My best friend gave that to me.” Jiwoo shouted and tried to reach for the camera but the boy was taller than her. 

“Hey Jimin. Give it back to her.” A girl with black hair and lips shaped like a heart spoke.

“Pfft, you two aren’t even from here. What are you going to do?” Jimin laughed.

Jiwoo ran towards him and took his arm before biting on it.

“What the hell?! Are you a dog?!” Jimin yelled and tried pushing Jiwoo away from him, but she only bit harder.

“Oh, this is so fun to watch.” Suji laughed.

“Okay okay! I’ll give it back, just stop biting me!” 

And Jiwoo did stop biting.

Jimin gave Jiwoo her camera back and looked at the bite mark. “That hurts so much.”

“Deserved.” Jiwoo scoffed and walked away. She sat down underneath the shade of a tree to read her book.

“I’m Chaewon.” The girl with heart shaped lips introduced herself.

“I’m pretty sure you know my name already.” Jiwoo laughed and so did Chaewon.

“That’s a nice book.”

“Have you read it?”

“Nope! I don’t like books.”

Jiwoo looked at Chaewon confusingly. “How can you say that this book is a nice book…?”

“I don’t know. It looks nice. What is it about?”   
  
“I don’t know. A pretty girl bought it earlier..” Jiwoo blushed while thinking about that pretty girl from the bookstore.

Chaewon smirked and pointed a finger to Jiwoo. “You like her!” She exclaimed.

Jiwoo closed her book and looked at Chaewon. “I- Wha- No I don’t!” She quickly denied.

“You have a crush on this pretty girl.. Do you have a picture of her?” 

“Picture..? Why should I show you?”

“I just wanted to see what she looks like.. What if I also know her?”

“Huh, good point.. But no! The picture is only for me to see.” 

“But.. Isn’t it weird that you took a picture of her without her knowing..?”

Jiwoo was about to say something when she saw the pretty girl sitting down on a bench behind Chaewon and she felt herself heating up again. “Oh my gosh. She’s here!” She whispered to her.

“Who?”

“The.. pretty girl! She’s right behind you. Please don’t look.”   
  
“Oh now you’ve mentioned it, I want to look.” 

“No! You’re gonna make it obvious!”

Chaewon forcefully pulled Jiwoo up and looked at the girl sitting at the bench. She let go and started to push her instead.

“Ch-Chaewon what are you doing?”

“Pushing you towards the girl so you can talk to her.”

“What? You don’t have to do that!”

Chaewon stopped pushing Jiwoo when Jimin, Suji, and Sohee went in front of them and she glared at them. “Move out of our way.”

“Aw, little Chaewon. What are you gonna do? Call for your Hyejoo?” Suji laughed and pushed her and Jiwoo to the ground.

“Look. I’m not here to fight the three of you.” Chaewon sighed.

Sohee was about to slap Jiwoo when someone stopped her and held her arm, she looked at who it was. 

“What are you three doing?”    


“S-Sooyoung.. Run!” Sohee shoved Sooyoung’s hand away and the three of them started to walk away.

Sooyoung sighed and offered a hand to Jiwoo, who was mesmerized by her face. “Are you okay?” She asked her but received no response.

Jiwoo was lost in Sooyoung’s eyes and didn’t hear what she said until a hand was waved in front of her, making her flinch a bit. “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Sooyoung asked.

“Y-Yes.” Jiwoo stuttered, making Sooyoung giggle.

“I’m Sooyoung.”

“I’m Kim Jiwoo. I just moved here from Cheongju”

“Okay Kim Chiwoo, are you gonna stay there on the ground?” 

“R-Right.” Jiwoo took Sooyoung’s hand and the latter helped her stand up. “It’s actually Jiwoo not.. Chiwoo.”

“Damn. I’ll just call you Kimchi.” 

“It’s Jiwoo!"

“Whatever. Hey Chaewon, do you know where Hyejoo is? She’s supposed to be here.” 

_ “Wait.. The two of them were friends? Oh no. I told Chaewon I like Sooyoung… Uhh..”  _ Jiwoo said in her thoughts, panicking slightly.

“I saw her here earlier but I don’t know where she went.” Chaewon responded and stood up on her own.

“Dad will hit me again if I go home late and Hyejoo is not with me oh no this is bad..” Sooyoung panicked.

“I forgot I was supposed to call Jungeun five minutes ago.. I’m so sorry, I hope you find Hyejoo though!” Jiwoo said and ran behind a bush not too far from Sooyoung and Chaewon. Was that a lie? Technically not because she was now calling Jungeun and took another photo of Sooyoung.

“Jungeun!” She whispered to her phone, making sure no one heard her.

_ “Hi Wooming! Why are you whispering?” _

“I think I like a girl.. And uh.. I’m taking pics of her with the camera you gave me..”

_ “It’s good that you like a girl.. But are you gay?” _

“I think I might be gay."

_ “I was about to be homophobic but I think I like the girl from the ice cream parlor before.. A shame she had to go to her hometown, she was only visiting her grandma.” _

“Homophobic? Ew.”

_ “Okay but don’t use all of the polaroid films. You’re gonna buy more if you do.” _

“Yes ma’am~”

_ “You’re totally stalking her.” _

“Huh? No! Wait gotta move. She’s walking away.”

_ “Jiwoo that’s stalking!” _

“No it’s not. I’m just following her.”

_ “Yes it is.. Just go talk to her or something. No need to stalk her, geez.” _

“What am I going to say? Hi I took a few pictures of you. I think not, that’s creepy as hell!”

_ “So you admitted that what you’re doing right now is creepy.” _

“I- Uh.. I promise to show you her photos when I go back!”

_ “You know, you could just take a picture with your phone then directly send it to me, right?” _

“I mean I would but the flash might be open without me knowing. I am not taking risks.”

_ “Jiwoo, just make sure the flash isn’t on?” _

“Not doing that.”

_ “You do you, I guess. I’ll go now.” _

“Bye Jungieee~ Have a wonderful day!” 

And the call ended.

Jiwoo was hiding behind a tree while following Sooyoung and Chaewon. She only took three pictures though, she’ll print them out later but right now she wanted to see what the two were doing. She was feeling a bit hungry though and she decided to walk past the two, pretending not to notice them.

“Oh? Jiwoo?” Sooyoung called out and Jiwoo stopped walking, facing the two of them..

“Hello Sooyoung-ie.” Jiwoo greeted with a cheerful smile.

“Have you eaten lunch yet?” Sooyoung asked.

“Hm.. Nope. I used all of my money to buy a book.” Jiwoo admitted and showed her the book that she had bought from the bookstore.

“My Dear Goddess? Hey, we have the same book. See?” Sooyoung held up her book.

Jiwoo giggled. “What a coincidence.” She blurted out. 

Let’s pretend she didn’t buy that book because Sooyoung bought it.

Chaewon gasped and pointed at another girl. “Hyejoo!” She shouted and ran towards her, wrapping her arms around the girl.

Sooyoung walked towards Hyejoo and pinched her cheeks. “Hoy Hyejoo, where did you go?” 

And Jiwoo was all by herself.

Or so she thought?

Sooyoung walked back to Jiwoo, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “This is Jiwoo, she just moved here last night.”

“Oh uh, hi Jiwoo. I’m Hyejoo, Sooyoung’s sister.” Hyejoo said awkwardly.

“Nice to meet you, Hyejoo!” 

“Likewise.”

“Okay! Are you three hungry? Let’s go eat bibimbap!” Sooyoung said enthusiastically. 

“Oh. I have.. No money. Next time, I guess?” Jiwoo said, trying to stay calm since Sooyoung’s arm was just on her shoulders.

“I’ll pay for your food.” Sooyoung winked at Jiwoo, making the latter blush.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to.”

= = =

In the end, Jiwoo still went with the three of them.    
  
Jiwoo sat across the table from Sooyoung and she was fidgeting with her fingers, she didn’t know what to do. Should she take out her camera and take a picture of them? She hesitated at first but ended up doing it. She took pictures of the three individually, but a couple of stolen shots of Sooyoung. “I’ll print your photos later when I get home then I’ll give it to you um.. I don’t know when we’ll meet again.” 

“I suppose you’ll study at our school on Monday?” Chaewon said.

School.. She’ll probably go to school with them, right? 

“Oh uh.. I forgot to ask my mom about that.” Jiwoo answered and laughed awkwardly after.

“I’m sure you’ll study at the school in front of the playground. My sources? Dude, trust me.” Chaewon gave her a thumbs up and a smile, making Hyejoo giggle instead of Jiwoo. “Hyejoo why are you laughing?” She asked and tilted her head slightly to the side.

“Oh uh, I was laughing at Sooyoung’s face.” Hyejoo answered coldly before looking out the window.

“Ah right, I saw a new uniform in my closet earlier. I think it’s the uniform from your school? Yellow plaid or something?” Jiwoo said out of nowhere.

“Yeah that’s our ugly ass uniform.” Hyejoo scoffed.

“Hyejoo, that’s not nice!” Chaewon scolded Hyejoo, who only stuck out her tongue. “But yeah, it’s ugly.” She shrugged her shoulders.

The foods that they ordered were placed on their table and Sooyoung mixed Jiwoo’s bibimbap bowl first. Hyejoo looked confused at Sooyoung.

“You were supposed to mix mine first.” Hyejoo complained.

“I’ll mix it up for you.” Chaewon smiled.

“O-Okay.” Hyejoo didn’t complain and let Chaewon mix the bowl up.

Sooyoung finished mixing Jiwoo’s bowl up and gave it to her with a smile. “Eat up.” 

Jiwoo blushed slightly and bowed her head slightly. “T-Thank you.” 

= = =

They finished eating their food and they were waiting outside for Sooyoung who was buying spicy rice cakes. Jiwoo wondered who it was for but remembered it’s none of her business. Jiwoo was quiet the whole time. She was shy, not really, just around Sooyoung. 

The rain suddenly started to pour down heavily and Jiwoo wondered how she would go home, she didn’t bring an umbrella after all. 

“Hey Hyejoo? Can you walk me home?” Chaewon asked Hyejoo while clinging onto her arm, the latter only nodded. 

The older Ha sibling went out of the store and handed Jiwoo tteokbokki in a cup. 

Oh. 

The rice cakes? It was for Jiwoo. 

“Oh. Um. You didn’t have to buy me rice cakes..” 

“No, take it. Those rice cakes are delicious, perhaps my favorite?” Sooyoung giggled and took out a small umbrella from the paper bag from the bookstore. “Come on, I’ll walk you home, where’s your house?” 

“But… Hyejoo?”

“She’s walking home with her crush. Oh wait, don’t tell her I told you that she has a crush on Chaewon.” Sooyoung giggled.

“I won’t. But like, aren’t you supposed to go home with Hyejoo?”

“We’ll go here after we walk you and Chaewon home.” Sooyoung explained. 

“Oh. I can walk home alone though.”

“Kimchi, it’s not safe for you to walk home alone. You just moved here, right? What if you get lost? Come on, don’t be stubborn.”

Jiwoo hesitated for a moment but later on agreed. They were now walking home under an umbrella while it was raining. Jiwoo was eating quietly.

“You know, it’s rude for you to take pictures of me without me knowing.” Sooyoung blurted out, making Jiwoo flustered.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jiwoo stuttered, lying as if she doesn’t know anything.

“The bookstore. You took a picture of me. Behind a bush, you also took pictures of me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jiwoo lied again, this time with a much more stable voice.

“Quit lying. I saw you with my own two eyes.”

“I swear I didn’t.”

“You’re very bad at lying.”

“I- Fine. What if I was taking pictures of you?” 

“At least tell me so I can pose for you and give you proper pics.” 

“This is my house.” Jiwoo stopped walking in front of her house and she was about to go in when Sooyoung called out for her.

“Can I um… Have your number..?” Sooyoung asked shyly.

Jiwoo giggled and the two of them exchanged numbers. “You stay safe with Hyejoo, okay?:”

Sooyoung did her “:]” smile and nodded her head. “I will! See you.. At school?” 

“See you.” 

Sooyoung kissed Jiwoo on the cheeks before walking away to the direction of her house.

= = =

Jiwoo changed to an oversized pink hoodie and shorts and took a quick picture in front of the mirror with her phone. She sent it to Sooyoung’s number. 

_ [sent 1 image attachment] _

?

Just checking xx

Oh! You look cute<3

Thank you! 

Jiwoo was smiling as she messaged Sooyoung. She rolled around her bed and decided to message Jungeun.

jungeun

jungie

hey hoot hoot

owl lover hello

anyways i like her soooo much

the girl i was taking pics of~

guess what!

SHE GAVE ME HER NUMBERRR

I like her hehehehhe

Jiwoo

I’m Sooyoung, not Jungeun T^T

OH UM

HAHA YOU NEVER SAW ME WHOOOOSH

“Okay that was definitely EMBARRASSING.” Jiwoo said to herself and made sure she was actually chatting with Jungeun this time. 

ok are you jungeun now

yes 

why

did you send a wrong message LOL

i thought you were sooyoung

i was legit talking about her

who

is

sooyoung

pretty girl? 

yeah,, i thought i was messaging you

but i was actually messaging her

embarrassing

WAIT I CONFESSED TO HER

KIND OF

FUCK

omg,, bye wooming

you’re on your own

Jiwoo immediately switched to her and Sooyoung’s conversation and saw that she was spamming her with messages. 

Jiwoo

Hello

Talk to me 

Babyyy

You’re a baby

Okay? 

Okay Jiwoo

Helloooo

Hi Sooyoung.

Please don’t take the “I like her” 

message seriously

It was for Beyonce

Yes

I really like Miss Beyonce

It wasn’t meant for you

Okay?

Okay.

Why are you panicking lol

It’s not like you like me or anything

Right?

Jiwoo stopped typing for a moment and sighed. “Girl if you only knew how much I like you. Wait, why do I like you? We just met.. Ehh, who needs a valid reason. Girls are girls, they’re amazing people. Wait I sound so so gay. Gosh, am I really 11 years old?” 

Right!

I don’t like you

Haha

Yeah

Ah, I gotta go

Hyejoo is crying

What happened?

Nevermind, no need to tell

me if you don’t want to

She accidentally hit her head on something

Hahahaha clumsy person

Okay bye!

= = =

It was finally Monday, meaning Jiwoo would see the Ha sisters and Chaewon in school. She was about to leave her house alone when she saw that Sooyoung was waiting outside for her. 

“What are you doing here?” Jiwoo asked.

“Let’s walk to school together.” 

“I’m fine with walking by myself though?” 

Jiwoo tried to argue with Sooyoung and saying that she’s fine with walking on her own but the latter wouldn’t say no as an answer. Not to mention, they go to the same school and they’re both on the way to the school. Sooyoung was walking beside Jiwoo, although there was a bit of distance between them. 

“Where’s your mom?” Sooyoung asked the new girl.

“At the hospital, why?” Jiwoo simply answered.

“Oh. I’m so sorry.”

“Huh? Sooyoung she works at the hospital.”

“Oh! I’m sorry for misunderstanding.”

Jiwoo giggled at Sooyoung. “No no! It’s fine. I find it adorable.” 

“Will you be fine on your own later?” Sooyoung changed the topic and Jiwoo nodded her head.

“You sound like my mom. What’s up, Mommy Sooyoung?” Jiwoo teased and saw that Chaewon and Hyejoo were waiting for them by the school gate. She waved at the two, Chaewon waved back while Hyejoo was just staring at her crush.

“You two didn’t go inside? I told you to go inside right when you arrive at school.” Sooyoung said in a scolding tone.

“We were waiting for the two of you!” Chaewon exclaimed cheerfully.

= = =

Jiwoo was walking towards the cafeteria, or so she thought. She got lost. “Jeez, how big is this school?” She mumbled to herself when she suddenly felt a grip on her arm. “Huh?!” She was caught off guard and looked at who was pulling her.

She didn’t know who it was.

“Hey! Let go of me!” She shouted but the girl didn’t listen.

They were now at the comfort room, meeting three other girls. 

“Who’s this?” A girl spoke, Jiwoo thinks she was the leader.

“Another fresh meat.” Sohee answered.

“Oh! It’s you, the kid from the playground.” Jiwoo recognized who the girl was and Sohee just rolled her eyes.

The leader checked Jiwoo’s hair, especially her bangs. “Ugly hairstyle.” She snickered and pulled her hair.

Jiwoo yelped in pain. “Let go!” She shouted, but of course they didn’t listen.

“Shut up!” The leader spat and slapped Jiwoo’s cheeks. “What’s your relationship with Ha Sooyoung? Why did you come to school with her?”

A toilet flush was heard and the bathroom stall door swung open, a girl walking out of it. 

The four girls froze and looked behind them, it was Sooyoung.

Sooyoung sighed. “Let go of Jiwoo, Kylie.” She calmly said, and Kylie obeyed quickly. “Oh I will surely not accept you in acting club.” Sooyoung spoke while washing her hands.

Kylie gasped and looked at Sooyoung, terrified. “Sooyoung- I- I’m sorry!” 

“Pathetic. Jiwoo, let’s go darling.”

= = =

They were now at the cafeteria with Chaewon and Hyejoo and yet Jiwoo was just looking at the food that Sooyoung gave her. 

“Do you… Do you not want it?” Sooyoung asked softly.

Jiwoo was brought back to reality and looked at Sooyoung. “Oh um, I was… thinking about something.”

“What were you thinking about?” Sooyoung asked.

“It’s nothing.” 

Well, it was about Sooyoung calling her darling, she felt like she was in paradise.

“Well, if you say so.”

= = =

Months have passed, it was finally October. Jiwoo’s birth month. Sooyoung had always been by her side, well except at home. She would always walk Jiwoo to her class and to school, everyone thought they were dating but Sooyoung quickly denied it. It was a dream for Jiwoo though.

It was after school already, Jiwoo was waiting for Sooyoung in the auditorium to finish practicing for an upcoming play. She was amazed at how Sooyoung was acting, for Jiwoo, she was a perfect person. She couldn’t find her flaws at all, honestly she wasn’t allowed to watch them practice but she insisted to watch. 

= = =

Jiwoo felt herself being shaken and she opened her eyes to see who it was… it was an angel sent from heaven.

Joking.

It was Sooyoung, she had finally finished with practicing and had changed into casual clothes. Jiwoo was also in her casual clothes, she changed before going to the auditorium earlier. 

“Good morning sleepyhead. Let’s go home.” Sooyoung spoke softly and Jiwoo nodded.

They walked out of the auditorium, walking towards the direction of Jiwoo’s house when Sooyoung stopped walking.

Sooyoung gasped and smiled after.“Hold on.. It’s your birthday today.” 

“It is?” 

“Yeah! October 20th, right?”

The shorter girl smiled and nodded. “You remembered.”

“Of course. We have an hour before 6pm.”

  
  
= = =

The two of them went up to the rooftop of an abandoned building, it was peaceful and calm. It was quite scary for Jiwoo, but she managed to remain calm because Sooyoung was there with her. 

“What’s your.. Ideal date?” The older girl said out of the blue.

“Huh? Oh. I don’t know. Either watching movies or going to the aquarium. Well I’m fine with anything.. But I really want to go stargazing with someone.” 

“When we’re adults, let’s go do that.” 

“Okay!”

= = =

:Jiwoo was in her room after being on a short friendly date with Sooyoung, it wasn’t really a date but for her it was a date. She was confused on why there was a big box on her bed so she went down to ask her mom.

“Oh the box? Your friend dropped it off earlier, she said it was a gift from Sooyoung? I don’t know what’s inside. Happy birthday Jiwoo.”

“Thanks mom.” Jiwoo simply replied before going up to her room. She took a bath and changed to her pajamas first before opening the box. 

It revealed a big green apple plush.

The girl was confused at first but laughed when she saw the note with the plush. She decided to call the person that gave the gift.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hi! Sooyoungie!”

_ “Oh, Jiwoo.. Hello.” _

**_“Excuse me young lady, look at me when I’m talking to you! Who are you talking to? Is that your boyfriend?”_ ** Bold of him to assume that his daughter is straight.

_ “What? Dad? No! It’s Jiwoo!” _

**_“Oh wow, you have friends? I told you, you can’t make friends. Friends are just a waste of time, you should focus on your studies!”_ **

“Sooyoung..? What’s going on?”

_ “It’s.. complicated. I’ll call you back later.” _

“Sooyoung wai-”

But the call had already ended.

“What was that?” Jiwoo mumbled to herself.

= = =

It had been days since Sooyoung talked to Jiwoo, heck it even became weeks. It was making Jiwoo anxious, had she done something wrong? Why was Sooyoung ignoring her? 

No Sooyoung nor Hyejoo by her side… The bullies took this opportunity to bully her, everytime she would try to cry for help, no one heard her. 

“Aww, what are you gonna do? Scream Sooyoung’s name? She can’t hear you now. You’re invisible.” Kylie laughed cockily before kicking Jiwoo on the head, making her fall to the ground.

“Tsk. If you’re gonna hurt me then why not just kill me? After all no one would care.” Jiwoo laughed.

“Are you stupid? We don’t want to get arrested.” Sohee uttered.

“What are you four doing to Jiwoo?!” Chaewon shouted.

“Oh hello little Chaewon. How’s your Hyejoo?” Kylie laughed.

Chaewon clenched her fist. “She’s fucking dead, okay?!” 

“Hyejoo’s… what?” Jiwoo asked weakly. 

“She’s dead, Jiwoo. She died on her birthday.” 

“I- Sooyoung. Where is she?” Jiwoo asked.

“No no. You’re not going anywhere.” Suji gripped on Jiwoo tightly.

“Are you really that cold-hearted? Her sister died!” Jiwoo shouted and bit Suji's arm.

“And she doesn’t care about you. If she did, where is she now, huh?” Kiara yelled and slapped Jiwoo’s cheeks. 

“I’m here. Now let go of Jiwoo or I will report the four of you to the principal.” Sooyoung coldly blurted out and the four students ran away. She walked towards Jiwoo and knelt down. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered softly.

“How did.. How did Hyejoo die..?” 

“We were just celebrating her birthday when a fire started, a candle was left litten in her room, tsk silly girl. We all ran out.. Except for Chaewon. Hyejoo noticed that she was missing and went back inside to save her, blah blah blah she managed to save Chaewon but.. That idiot looked for Chaewon’s gift for her but she couldn’t find it then boom. Next thing I knew she died.”

“Oh.. I’m so sorry.” Jiwoo mumbled softly.

= = =

Jiwoo and Sooyoung walked Chaewon home and they were now walking to Jiwoo’s house.

“What happened on that day, when I called you?” Jiwoo asked curiously.

“The usual beating up.” 

“Your dad beats you up? What? Where is he?” 

“He left me after Hyejoo died. I don’t know where he is now.” 

“Where… do you live now?” 

“With mom and my grandma.”

“Live in my house.” 

“What? I don’t want to be a nuisance to your mom.”

“No no. It’s alright, I swear. My mom wouldn’t mind at all, trust me. She’s always at the hospital working anywas, I’m lonely at home.” 

= = =

The result? Sooyoung lived with Jiwoo and her mom. Her own biological mother didn’t mind it at all, she allowed her to live with Jiwoo.

It was night time already, the two teenagers were in their shared room. 

“Sooyoungie. Cuddle me.” 

“Huh? No way! Go sleep on your own.” 

“Pleaseee?”

“I said no!”

“Hngg. Fine."

Sooyoung waited for Jiwoo to go to sleep before she got off her bed and laid beside the latter, wrapping her arms around her waist. She kissed her on the forehead before whispering a soft “good night” and falling asleep.

= = =

May 21, 2012.

It seemed like it was a perfect day for Jiwoo. It was a rainy day and she was out with Sooyoung. The two of them went to an arcade not too far yet not too near from the house. 

Sooyoung was now trying to win Jiwoo a huge penguin stuffed toy by the claw machine. She was so determined to get that penguin stuffed toy, her eyes were focused on it. “Ugh, this is the perfect time I need Hyejoo. She’s an expert at this.” She groaned in frustration but she didn’t give up.

“Sooyoung.. We can just play something else.”

“No! I will get this stupid- I mean cute penguin stuffed toy for you. Trust me.” 

“You don’t have to!”

“Shush. I will get this for you.”

Jiwoo tried to convince Sooyoung that it was perfectly fine and she can stop trying but the latter insisted. After a few trial and errors, the older girl finally got the stuffed toy that she wanted to give Jiwoo.

“I told you I would get it.” Sooyoung winked at her and handed her the stuffed toy.

The two of them played in the arcade for a few hours, earning a lot of prizes, and they went to a cafe to rest for a while. 

“Your birthday is coming up fast, huh?” Jiwoo said.

“Yeah, three days left.”

“What do you want me to give you?”

“Nothing. Just your presence is fine. You’re a gift to me.”

“So cliche.”

“Hey! It’s not like I’m joking. You make me happy, you know?”

= = =

The two of them were walking home and it was almost dawn. 

“Hey, what do you think is the food for dinner? Sooyoung asked Jiwoo.

“Probably fried chicken, why?”

“Oh I don’t know. I thought it would be like ramen or something.”

“How dare you make me hungry? Now I want ramen!”

“Heh. Race you to the house!” Sooyoung shouted and started to run.

“No fair! Wait for me!” Jiwoo yelled back.

Sooyoung crossed the street and looked back at Jiwoo. She waited for her of course. She looked at both sides and gasped when she saw a car approaching her. “Jiwoo wait!” She yelled and ran towards her, pushing her away.

“Sooyoung- What?” Jiwoo was confused why the older girl pushed her back to the sidewalk and next thing she knew, a car had hit Sooyoung hard, making the latter fall to the ground-hitting her head hard. 

Time froze for Jiwoo, she stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. There was a pool of blood surrounding Sooyoung’s head while Jiwoo was just shaking in fear and eyes wide open. 

The sound of sirens brought her back to reality and she looked at the paramedics taking Sooyoung’s body inside the ambulance.

“Are you her sister?” A paramedic asked.

“No.. Her sister died in a fire. I’m her… friend.” Jiwoo said with a shaky voice.

The paramedic nodded her head. “Do you want to stay with her?”

“Of course.. Please.”

“Alright.”

= = =

Jiwoo was just holding Sooyoung’s hand the whole ride to the hospital. It was quiet but Jiwoo was quietly hoping that Sooyoung was still alive. She was now waiting in the waiting area while calling Jungeun. 

_ “Huh? Jiwoo? What’s wrong?” _

“Can you… Can you go to Busan..?”

_ “Busan is pretty far, Wooming. Is something wrong?” _

Jiwoo began to sob. “Sooyoung.. I think.. I think she’s dead..”

_ “Oh.” _

_ “What happened..?” _

_ “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it.” _

“I thought it’s just a normal day.. I didn’t expect her to die.”

“Jiwoo?” Jiwoo heard a familiar voice call out to her and she turned to the direction of the voice. It was her mom. “Sweetie.. Sooyoung didn’t make it.”

“I-I’ll call you back Jungeun.” Jiwoo whispered and she ended the call with Jungeun.

“Wh-What? No. You’re lying.” 

“I’m not.”

“Oh my goodness.. It’s my fault that she died.” Jiwoo blamed herself and tears started to roll down on her cheeks.

Her mother pulled her into a hug and patted her back in attempts to make her calm. “It’s not your fault, sweetie.”

“Yes it is! She.. She saved me from.. Getting hit by a car.. But I couldn’t save her...”

“She’ll be watching over you. She’ll be your guardian angel, don’t you like that?”

“No! I want an alive Sooyoung.”

“She’s dead, Jiwoo. You can’t turn back time or magically bring her back.”

Jiwoo felt her heart shatter into pieces and continued to blame herself for Sooyoung’s death. But her mother is right. She can’t come back.

= = =

Three days have passed already and the clock had just struck to 12 midnight. It was now Sooyoung’s birthday. Jiwoo sat quietly inside her room, locked herself inside, not allowing anyone to come inside. She was curled up and hugging the penguin stuffed toy that Sooyoung got for her. She decided to name the penguin SooSoo because it was the last thing that Sooyoung gave her and she talked to SooSoo as if she was Sooyoung.

“Happy birthday Sooyoung, I miss you so much.” She whispered softly.

“Oh my god, there’s a bug!” Jiwoo jumped and hit the bug with whatever book she could grab. “Ah! I’m so sorry if you’re Sooyoung in her other life.” She quickly apologized after hitting the bug and laughed right after thinking what she had just said.

“How the heck could she be a bug?” 

“Oh my god. Sooyoung, move the chair if you’re here in your ghost form.” Jiwoo squinted at the chair but it didn’t move at all. She sighed, feeling disappointed. “Yikes. I’m turning into a crazy person.”

= = =

A year has passed, it was finally Jiwoo’s last day in Busan. She’ll finally go back home in Cheongju, she missed her hometown so much. Mostly Jungeun though. It was also the day when Chaewon would go back to her hometown, they decided to hang out for probably one last time, who knows if they’ll meet again as adults.

Did the bullying stop for the two of them? Well.. Jiwoo took taekwondo classes and got black belt. They were.. Somewhat afraid of Jiwoo.

Chaewon and Jiwoo were walking to the bibimbap place where they ate with Sooyoung and Hyejoo at first. 

“It feels empty without them.” Chaewon blurted out as they sat down.

“I know, but at least they’re in a happy place now.” Jiwoo replied and looked at the spot where Sooyoung used to sit down. “Okay. How about we visit their graves after we eat? It’s been a while since we went there.”

Chaewon agreed and they ordered food for the two of them.

= = =

Jiwoo always tried to enlighten Chaewon’s mood when she saw the girl frowning, probably still mourning Hyejoo’s death. She couldn’t blame her, they were pretty close with each other so of course. She couldn’t just tell Chaewon to move on from Hyejoo’s death… That’d be rude of her.

“I remember when you bit Jimin’s arm because he took your polaroid camera.” Chaewon laughed as she recalled that memory. It was their first meeting and Jiwoo’s first day in Busan. “Oh! Speaking of polaroid… Where’s the polaroids of Sooyoung that you took?”

Jiwoo lifted her head up while chewing on her food, she finished chewing first remembering what Sooyoung taught her before. “Oh polaroids.. I kept them in a box. Why did you ask?”

“I don’t know, probably because you told me before that you like Sooyoung.” 

Jiwoo felt her ears heating up and glared at Chaewon. “What if we peacefully forget and move on from that?”

“Nah. It’s fun teasing you.”   
  
“I would tease you but I don’t think Hyejoo would approve of that.”

“Hye? Oh no, she’ll tease me too.”

“Hmm.. What do you want to be in the future?” Jiwoo changed the subject.

“I don’t know, probably be an idol. How about you?”

“I mean I do love singing… So probably an idol too?

= = =

The two of them paid for their own meals and went to buy flowers for both Hyejoo and Sooyoung before they visited their graves. Jiwoo bought a bouquet of pink daisies, she’ll probably get scolded by her mom for using almost all of her allowance but she didn’t mind it. She could probably just use her polaroid camera and sell photos or something, she’ll think of something to earn money soon. However, Chaewon bought just a single stem of yellow daisy, Hyejoo would probably just laugh at her.

But.. Why pink daisy? What does it symbolize? 

~ ~ ~

_ “Kimchi, did you know that pink daisies symbolizes  _ _ love, romance, and gentleness?” Sooyoung spoke while laying down on Jiwoo’s lap, playing with her fingers. They were at a field of daisies, yet not a single pink daisy was spotted, they were sitting down under the shade of a tree. _

_ “Why are you telling me this?” _

_ “I don’t know, I feel like you needed to know.” _

_ “Know what?” _

_ “That it symbolizes love, romance, and gentleness?” _

_ “Well, what am I supposed to do? Give you a bouquet of pink daisies?” _

_ “Probably. Do you like me?” Sooyoung asked out of the blue. Jiwoo looked down at Sooyoung and nervously laughed. _

_ “As a friend.. Yeah.” Jiwoo answered in a soft voice. _

_ “I know you like me more than a friend, you idiot.” Sooyoung mumbled under her breath and Jiwoo tried to understand but the words were slurred and she couldn’t understand a single thing. _

~ ~ ~ 

They finally arrived at the graveyard and placed their flowers on the respectful graves. Hyejoo and Sooyoung’s graves were just right beside each other.

“Hey Hyejoo and Sooyoung! It’s Chaewon and Jiwoo. It’s been a while, heh, sorry. We’ve been quite busy.” Chaewon greeted.

“Sooyoungie! I have black belt in taekwondo, are you proud of me?” Jiwoo exclaimed, as if she was expecting an answer. “Are you happy where you are now?” 

“Of course she is, if she isn’t she’d be moving random objects at your house.”

Jiwoo rolled her eyes at Chaewon. “Anyways, it’s our last day here.”

“Wait can I play Super Bass here?” Chaewon asked Jiwoo.

“No? There’s other dead people here, we should respect them. They’ll haunt you forever.” Jiwoo attempted to make Chaewon scared, which worked.

“Sheesh I could hear Hyejoo laughing at me.” 

“I don’t hear anything.”

“What? Oh heck nah! I’m out of here.” Chaewon uttered out and quickly walked out of the graveyard.

“I guess I’ll be going now too. I miss the two of you.” Jiwoo smiled and waved her hand before walking out of the graveyard, meeting up with Chaewon. Just by the corner of her eyes she saw Sooyoung, just standing there, and she turned around only to see no one.

“Huh? I swear I saw Sooyoung…” Jiwoo mumbled to herself.

= = =

“You’re telling me you didn’t hear Hyejoo’s laugh?” 

“No? Are you Hyejoo deprived that you could hear her laugh.” 

“I swear I heard her.”

“Well if you heard her then I should’ve heard her too.”

“You’re right, maybe I am going crazy.” Chaewon sighed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Aha! You can go scream at me in my CC: https://curiouscat.qa/pastelbits
> 
> If I ruined you day with some slight angst, I'm sorry
> 
> I think?


End file.
